http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080308-09 Box number two. Anyways, pretty good article on Monta's confidence in Wright. Boldly saying he'll be the next Chris Bosh. Of course, he's going to get it from many people for saying that but it wasn't too long ago that Monta said he was going to make people know who he was one day. Wonder if he's right about Brandan. I hope so, because I'm diggin' Monta's confidence in his teammate.

How hot is Golden State's Monta Ellis? Sufficiently scorching to run with this good Monta tale.

Several weeks back, before Ellis went on his February scoring rampage and long before Don Nelson hinted at playing rookie Brandan Wright, Ellis had an aggressive message for us.

Referring to Wright, Ellis said: "He's going to be the next Chris Bosh."

We repeat: This was before Wright unexpectedly cracked Nelson's starting lineup.

Our initial reaction to Ellis' claim was the natural reaction: That's just Monta talking up the one Warrior young enough for him to mentor.

Then we remembered what happened a couple of years back when Ellis, then 20, sought out your humble correspondent in the visitors locker room in Dallas. He was an end-of-the-bench rookie, playing not much more than Wright has, but Ellis wanted to introduce himself after hearing me mispronounce his first name in a conversation with ace Warriors press officer Raymond Ridder.

"You're going to know who I am some day," he said.

Mon-tay, as it's properly pronounced, sure wasn't wrong. Relying heavily on that boundless confidence to offset his relatively small stature at 6-3 and less than 180 pounds, Ellis averaged 26.0 points on 60.2 percent shooting from the floor in February. That made Ellis only the ninth guard in league history to attempt at least 150 shots in one month and sink 60 percent of them ... and wiped away any lingering skepticism about the Warriors' decision to trade Jason Richardson to Charlotte on draft night to ensure they will have the financial flexibility this summer to re-sign Ellis as well as lefty center Andris Biedrins.

February also raised the question: Can Ellis be a most improved player candidate for the second straight season?

The fun sidebar, though, is the Wright angle. Ellis' seemingly over-the-top forecast isn't so easily dismissed as bluster anymore. Not after Wright -- acquired in the J-Rich deal -- overcame Nelson's long-standing reluctance to play rookies and started Golden State's past five games, making some credible contributions in home wins over Philadelphia and Portland while Biedrins recovers from the removal of his appendix.

It's way too early, obviously, to say Ellis is going to go 2-for-2 with these guarantees. Wright might be only 20, with copious amounts of athleticism and a handy 7-foot-5 wingspan, but Bosh's bar is pretty high.

Yet, we can say, given how the first proclamation worked out, that we definitely are filing away Ellis' scouting report on Wright, since he clearly is on a bit of a roll.

J-Rich wrote:Just throwing it out there! But do you remember what Calbert Cheaney said about Ike being the next Elton Brand???

this coming from a guy who was drafted high, yet was nothing more than a role player.

"Losing is inevitably close to winning," Guber said. "They're inches apart. Drama. If you have drama, you've got a ticket to sell." "They're not real fans," Lacob said. "They don't have season tickets."

J-Rich wrote:Well here's something for you to think about!!! Monta said the same thing about Ike when we had most of our core players hurt...He said that he and Ike could be the Stockton and Malone for the W's....

Ike surprised the hell out of me -he had such flashes of unstoppableness early on, but so far, has to be rated a bust - however, never forget Jermaine O'Neal and Chauncey Billups, two players who were written off. However, 3 coaches have not seen fit to play him much, so I have moved into the camp of not convinced about ike anymore. He was as popular on the board a few years back as Monta is now, (thought I am not remotely suggesting he has the talent Monta does).

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coltraning wrote:Ike surprised the hell out of me -he had such flashes of unstoppableness early on, but so far, has to be rated a bust - however, never forget Jermaine O'Neal and Chauncey Billups, two players who were written off. However, 3 coaches have not seen fit to play him much, so I have moved into the camp of not convinced about ike anymore. He was as popular on the board a few years back as Monta is now, (thought I am not remotely suggesting he has the talent Monta does).

Yeah... I still think Ike can be one of the best inside scorers in the league, if given enough minutes... but doesn't seems like he can't do anything else, so he doesn't have those minutes. Kinda sad all that talent wasting in the bench.

J-Rich wrote:Well here's something for you to think about!!! Monta said the same thing about Ike when we had most of our core players hurt...He said that he and Ike could be the Stockton and Malone for the W's....

What do you think about that now???

Monta and Ike WOULD HAVE BEEN our Stockton and Malone, if Nelson weren't the coach. If Jerry Sloan were in charge, Ike was the best low-post threat we had... but he didn't play defense. Look at Boozer. He rebounds and scores. That's what Ike does. If Nelson weren't the coach, Ike very well could have been a 16 and 8 guy for the Warriors, with Monta netting 23 points and 6 assists.

Hey baywarrior if you really a diehard fan you would remember this article from about 2 years ago when Ike and Monta were playing on the floor together near the end of the season. Ike had a big game against Boozer and the Mavs. This was when J-rich and Murphy were out to injuries...

J-Rich wrote:Hey baywarrior if you really a diehard fan you would remember this article from about 2 years ago when Ike and Monta were playing on the floor together near the end of the season. Ike had a big game against Boozer and the Mavs. This was when J-rich and Murphy were out to injuries...

Find the article yourself if you're really interested!!!

I guess that means that we shouldnt listen to anything Monta says, then.